Teaching Tech

EXAMINING THE ROLE OF CLASSROOM TECHNOLOGY AT CSW.

Technology has transformed the way we live at home, at work, and yes — at school. Whether you are a student, a teacher, or the parent of a student, you know that there are resources and tools available to today’s students that would have been inconceivable even just ten, fifteen years ago. Technology moves quickly, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated the pace at which new technologies have been integrated into the classroom, but the question of which tools and techniques will have staying power, and which will fade into a distant memory, remains to be answered.

WHAT IS THE MOST ADVANCED PIECE OF CLASSROOM TECHNOLOGY YOU REMEMBER FROM YOUR TIME AT CSW?

“The robots that the school’s FIRST Robotics Competition team made.” Casey Alperovitz ’20

“Overhead projector. But that was before PowerPoint so slides were commercial acetate prints.” Robert Friesen ’71

“Plain, old-fashioned typewriter.” Virginia Giritlian ’69

“PCR machine in the Bio Lab. That thing was amazing!” Isaiah Grace ’15

“RadioShack TRS-80’s (“trash80’s”) on which friends were learning to code (I think?). One student I knew had a computer in his dorm room and wrote computer games and was connected to some kind of network/BBS, as I recall.” Eliza (Kluchman) Klureza ’86

“Bringing in a TV on the cart, when needed. The library had desktop computers with internet, but it was still relatively new.” Tova Scherr ’00

“A Smartboard that nobody knew how to work! We just used whiteboards instead. It was also suggested that we buy flash drives for Expos II, and I remember spending ~$50 for a 128MB drive.” Jesse Simmons ’06

“Usually, as I recall, just blackboard and chalk.”

Peter von Hippel ’48

In the spring of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced CSW to close its campus and transition to a completely online learning environment. After the summer recess, students and faculty resumed learning though the now all-too-familiar Zoom classroom model, until the early fall, when campus reopened and classes moved to a “hybrid” format. With many international students unable to get to the United States, and a number of domestic students preferring not to come to campus due to health concerns, CSW had to find a way to make class content equitably available to both in-person and remote learners.

This meant outfitting classrooms with cameras, microphones, and equipment for projecting the faces and voices of students learning from afar. Beyond such hardware components, the Zoom room and hybrid classroom model increased reliance on technology in that they obligated faculty to rethink the way they led class discussions, disseminated expectations and assignments, and evaluated student work.

To prepare for the shift, teaching faculty engaged in a series of workshops led by EXPLO Elevate, a global, innovative schools cooperative. Focused on “Agile Course Design,” sessions covered topics such as the cognitive theory of multimedia learning, designing for engagement and inquiry in the remote environment, and the re-imagination of curriculum dependent on physical space and materials. The workshops explored how to design for student choice and engagement in the virtual learning environment using strategies that would also serve students well in-person.

This training, in addition to guidance and instruction led by CSW’s academic team and resident technology expert, made what would inevitably be a challenging few months significantly smoother for both faculty and students, who ultimately did a remarkable job adjusting and adapting to the “new normal.” This was in part due to an ongoing dialog between students, teachers, parents, and administrators about what was working and what wasn’t.

EMBRACING DISRUPTION

People in academia thrive on cycles. They divide the year into clear, predictable segments, and plan ahead — with everything. And while the content of any given cycle is never the same, schools — even progressive institutions like CSW — generally know what they can expect from year to year. This makes for a clean, organized, well-running machine. But the longer this machine functions, churning away with its perpetual, repetitive rhythm, the harder it becomes to change that rhythm — to disrupt it. The COVID-19 pandemic compelled CSW to re-examine all of its “standard” practices — notably its relationship with technology — in ways that will ultimately move the school forward even faster than it may have without the pandemic.

TRACING CSW’S 135-YEAR HISTORY THROUGH THE LENS OF TECHNOLOGY

As CSW celebrates its 135-year anniversary, we at The Gryphon thought it apt to recognize this milestone by charting the school’s history not through a timeline or listing of pivotal moments, but through the lens of technology.

In an informal survey this spring, we showed alums from the Class of 2020 back to the 1940s a selection of 30 images depicting common learning tools from across the decades and asked them to indicate which items they could remember utilizing during their time as students as CSW. Our findings are shared here.

Prior to the pandemic, for example, Visual Art Teacher Todd Bartel would typically hold class critiques and conversations in-person, with all students participating via spoken word. When teaching hybrid classes, he began experimenting with tools like Miro, an online collaborative whiteboard platform, and Padlet, an online notice board where students can share images, links, videos, and documents on a centralized “wall,” to facilitate class discussions. It was a big shift, but Todd found himself pleasantly surprised by the results.

“Not only do we get the benefit of having students who might be too shy to speak up in person participating in the conversation, but we also get a visual record of something that is normally auditory,” he says. “It’s pretty cool. I didn’t expect to love that.”

Still, there exists a small but lingering techno-phobic sentiment in some pockets of progressive education — the belief that too much technology can ruin the educational experience. Progressive education often calls for active, open-air, hands-on, experiential learning, and utilizing a computer can feel like the antithesis of this. And, indeed, there is such a thing as “too much” technology, but even those who were perhaps once staunchly opposed to or wary of technology, have discovered its benefits and importance through the pandemic, despite the inevitable Zoom fatigue. The key, as with most things, is balance.

FINDING BALANCE

“Technology can be a real game changer in democratizing access,” says Director of Library and Technology Integration Jenna Wolf. “But it can also be problematic from time to time. It’s all about finding balance and understanding what you are using — its risks, its limitations — and being aware of both the advantages and disadvantages. It’s impossible to unbundle those things.”

As CSW teachers have discovered, attempts to resist or block certain technologies from changing the status quo are futile, and, arguably, a disservice to the students, because we live in an increasingly technological world, and to pretend otherwise would be foolish.

In the Math Department, teachers have in recent years had to grapple with websites (one, in particular), that post detailed, highly accurate math problem solutions to questions from hundreds of commonly used high school math textbooks. This means students can quickly and easily go online and copy out answers to their homework. The initial response from teachers was resistance and frustration; they couldn’t possibly stand by and allow their students to cheat in this way. But as they noticed the site continue to grow in popularity, the math faculty came to a realization. Continues on p. 22

TRIED & TRUE

Sometimes, the simpler the technology, the better. The following items were the only tech tools that alums from all eleven decades surveyed (1940s – 2020s) reported using as students at CSW.

Paper Flashcards

Chalkboard

WHAT PIECE OF TECHNOLOGY THAT EXISTS TODAY DO YOU MOST WISH YOU HAD HAD WHILE YOU WERE A STUDENT AT CSW?

“E-Books. As much as I still love a real book, carrying around books in a satchel was a pain in the back.” Nicholas Flanders ’70

“None. I watch the people walking with their heads bent letting their phones do the walking; what do they hear, see, feel, smell, and touch of their environs? Do they know the damage that has been done in making this technology? I like using MY head rather than a gadget, though I do use my computer as a typewriter.” Nick Fleck ’54

“A machine to do my homework for me.” Phillip King ’98

“WiFi in the dorms. Though it would have ruined study hours, and sleep.” Bill Kuker ’99

“Word processing of any kind. Laptop would be a bonus. Internet of course, but word processing versus typing would have been best.” Chris Lovell ’73

“iPad. I’m an artist and I do tons of my art either entirely with it, or in conjunction with other media.” Mike Luce ’83

“3D printer. It would be cool to learn.” Ari Radcliffe-Greene ’13

Advances in technology have afforded students with new, easy ways of staying organized and on track with their schoolwork.

“Why are we fighting this?” They wondered. Together, they eventually realized that the website was actually a really good tool, and that they just needed to show students that it was a tool for learning and not a tool for cheating. The math program at CSW, much like the academic program as a whole, isn’t about having the answer, but about how you find it — how you get there. Process, whether the answer is right or not, is what’s most important. In this case, it was better for teachers to acknowledge the tool and evolve with the technology.

HARNESSING THE POSITIVES

It is worth noting that technology has also impacted the math classroom in a myriad of other positive ways, with tools like Desmos, essentially a web-based version of a graphing calculator, or GeoGebra, which allows teachers and students to virtually create polygons, or measure angles. And while students at CSW still learn skills like using a protractor or drawing out graphs or diagrams by hand, technology gives them options and has proven to be a time saver.

Marci Cohen, who directs CSW’s Skills Center and specializes in catering to students with learning differences, is a huge proponent of technology and the benefits it affords.

“Overall, it has transformed my teaching in very, very positive ways,” she says. “And I can see that it’s really helped students that I work with who have learning differences, learning challenges, attention issues, executive functioning concerns… The positives far outweigh the crutches students sometimes take with technology.”

In Marci’s field, advances in technology have afforded students with new, easy ways of staying organized and on track with their schoolwork. Cloud-based folder structures, digital timers, virtual check lists, customizable reminders, and distraction reduction tools have all been incredibly influential on students. And the rise and increased accessibility of videos, audiobooks, and voice-recording software has been amazing for students who prefer to process information orally or visually rather than by reading or writing. Naturally, not all students prefer to read from a screen, for example, but the point is that they have options. If they prefer to print something out, they can do that. If they need captions on a video, they can turn those on.

THE BEAUTY OF BOTH WORLDS

In spite of its many benefits, Marci says she regularly encourages students to take breaks from technology, and even has a poster of zero-tech ways to “take a break:” pet a furry creature; climb a tree; eat a meal in silence; watch the clouds. These habits are

IT WAS GOOD WHILE IT LASTED

Let’s all take a moment to remember these classics, which served their purpose at the time, but have since been replaced by newer technologies. Few alums from the mid-2000s on were familiar with these items, some of which, (like the analog overhead projector — remember those transparencies?) had a pretty solid run.

Audio Cassette Tape

8” Floppy Disk Compact Disk

VHS Tape TV/VCR Console

Analog Overhead Projector

important, and also craved by many students, contrary to what some adults may believe about adolescents.

“I think a lot of our students take art courses hoping to be tech free for one brief moment of their lives,” says Visual Arts Department Chair Chris Whittaker. “Right now I am watching students make clay pots outside and they are so engaged. I have never seen them happier.”

Still, as long as there are schools, there will be students who want to know why they need to learn how to do things the “old way,” or by hand, when there are tools that can do these things for you. It is the age-old, Why do I have to learn how to do math in my head when I can just use a calculator? question. But sometimes doing things the “analog” way can ultimately be more satisfying, or more effective, even if it’s slower or harder.

In his animation class, Chris makes a point of emphasizing the difference between drawing a shape, and dragging in a pre-designed figure, and encourages students to appreciate the beauty of a line that has personality. And in the English Department, students are typically asked to work with hard copy books, in keeping with research that says hard copy texts are more conducive to deep reading than their digital counterparts. Hard copy texts are also known to be better for annotating, says English Department Chair Jeannette Lee-Parikh, though there are good annotation software options out there, and if a CSW student prefers to use one of those, they certainly can.

Because as technology changes, and new generations are exposed to new tools earlier and earlier, human brains are also changing. And so even if today’s research says “hard copy is better,” that may not always be the case.

“As someone interested in education technology, I keep abreast of things to see when the field is going to tip,” Jeannette says. “Because these kids are growing up with technology and it’s changing their brains. Just as humans once repurposed their brains to be able to from hard texts, many are now repurposing their brains to read digitally.”

At CSW, the goal is to remain flexible and open so that students are regularly able to experiment with and discover the benefits of both digital and analog processes and techniques, and adapt in accordance with the changing world. Because technology is not a barrier to progressive education, but an essential component of it, and one that CSW teachers have learned to embrace with enthusiasm and excitement. In the end, it isn’t an either/or question. There is beauty in the clean, automated straight line, and the hand-drawn squiggly one.

MODERN DAY STAPLES

Though most only appeared on the scene within the past 25 years, the following items seem to have major staying power and are widely used for teaching and learning in today’s classrooms.

iPad YouTube Email Laptop

WHAT PIECE OF TECHNOLOGY THAT EXISTS TODAY ARE YOU MOST GLAD YOU DIDN’T HAVE WHILE YOU WERE A STUDENT AT CSW?

“Zoom.” Asher Doyle ’17

“Smartphones and social media, no question. High school is difficult enough with purely analog communications channels.” Jonah Goldshlag ’98

“Used appropriately and for educational purposes (when being educated), all technology is good.” Bill Gruener ’62

“Snapchat/TikTok. No one needed to know the everyday minutiae of my HS self.” Kenneth Johnson ’00

“Smart phones. I would never get anything done. And I would spend a lot less time coming up with my own solution to day-to-day problems. There’s usefulness in spending some time alone with your thoughts.” Beth Peterson ’85

“I’m glad I didn’t have a universe of information at my fingertips with a handheld device. There was something fulfilling about having a half a dozen books sprawled open atop a library table as I was digging for the exact information I was looking for to complete my research papers. I loved the discovery process… and, really, the adventure of it.” Nicholette Routhier ’00

“Calculators. I wish students were forced to use the slide rule.” Vanita “Saleema” Snow ’78

“All of it.” Mary Swope ’51